Celebrate Odie Day Every August 8

By NSC
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August 8 is Odie Day(Created with fonts from Creative Fabrica & TheHungryJPEG; Garfield and Odie chalk art by yahyanikrushdi, CC BY-3.0)

Happy Odie Day!

If you’re scratching your head and wondering “What the heck’s an Odie?” well, you’re obviously not a Garfield fan. Odie’s not a “what,” he’s a “who.”

And the “who” is Garfield’s housemate, target of Garfield’s pranks, and (although Garfield’s not likely to admit it) Garfield’s pal.

Why is August 8 Odie Day? Because it’s his birthday. His first appearance in the Garfield comic strip was August 8, 1978.

Poor Odie

Poor Odie usually comes across as a not too bright dog with a too-long tongue.

He rarely speaks and tends to fall victim to Garfield’s many (many!) pranks. Garfield delights in calling him a moron.

But is he really? Or is it all an act? The occasional strip shows him doing smart (or at least talented) things:

Reading War and Peace
Writing with his tongue
Doing puzzles

He also does sometimes manage to get back at Garfield:

On a camping trip he locked Garfield and Jon out of the car during a storm. Odie stayed dry and ate all the snacks in the car.
He framed Garfield for clearing out Jon’s closet.
When Garfield needed help getting down from a tree, Odie threw him a bowling ball which caused the branch to break and Garfield to fall.

Of course, the two really are pals. For as much as Garfield picks on Odie, he’ll beat up anyone else who treats Odie badly. Whenever this happens he says things like “Nobody beats up on Odie but me!”

I’ll bet he wants to beat up on Jim Davis, too. Why? Because Mr. Davis has only celebrated poor Odie’s birthday once in the nearly 40 years since he first introduced the lovable pooch.

Poor Odie. :-(

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficial birthday holiday.

How to Celebrate Odie Day

Throw a birthday party for your favorite cartoon dog!

C’mon! Just because you’re an “adult” doesn’t mean you can’t love cartoons. And have parties for cartoon characters.

(If it does, well then I want nothing to do with being one).

Have balloons and streamers and party hats.
Make Odie cake pops. Serve them on Garfield plates with Garfield & Odie napkins. You know you want to!
Make your guests dress as a Garfield character.

Not ready for a full-blown party for a cartoon dog? At least enjoy a few shorts of Odie and Garfield’s antics:

Garfield and Odie – Fight